Posts Tagged ‘sold’
New Leaf
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
New Leaf by Amy Crook
A lot of the time I resist the urge to make things pretty and decorative, so with this piece I let myself make smooth, lovely progressions of shapes and colors all I wanted. I was experimenting with salt on a new paper, which turned out to be a bit too absorbent to make formations, but still left sparkly pools of color. Then I got my awesome new Japanese gouache-like paints out (watercolors, but opaque!) and just noodled about with two shades of green and a series of shapes and patterns.
Although the scanner tends to shift it to yellow, the lighter parts of this painting are a vivid new-leaf green, and the whole thing has a lovely rough, hand-torn edge. I’m thinking of framing it with photo corners on black mat board to bring out the roughness around the edges of the otherwise smooth, decorative shapes.
New Leaf, 8″x8″ mixed media on paper, nfs (sold).
Even my camera didn’t really like the lighter green color, but here you can see just a touch of the salt sparkle nestling amongst the matte paint and finely textured paper.
New Leaf, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: decorative, gouache, green, nfs, pen and ink, salt, sold
2 Comments »
Mountains of Madness
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Mountains of Madness by Amy Crook
This piece started out as an experiment in painting mountains for a client, and turned into a bewitchingly creepy landscape once I put in the sky. I used salt to create the ghostly texture in the sky, which one person described as a crowd of people staring down. Spooky!
I named it after a classic HP Lovecraft story that I haven’t even read (I know! Bad artist! No biscuit!), but the name just seemed to fit with the looming sky and lunatic moon.
Mountains of Madness, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Here you can see it tucked into a frame, which can be included for an additional fee.
Mountains of Madness, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: lovecraft, mountains, nfs, sold, watercolor
1 Comment »
Summer Reading
Monday, October 24th, 2011
Summer Reading by Amy Crook
I started this piece during the recent Playshop call with Melissa Dinwiddie, then went back and finished it up later. The tree and figure are painted with just two colors, quinacridone gold and amazonite genuine, and then I added in a bit of soft cadmium yellow when I went back and did the sky, and added in the fuller foliage. I especially like the way some of the leaves have little haloes of gold, and the rich greens and browns that came out of just those two colors mixed in different proportions.
Summer Reading, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper.
I think this would make a great piece to put in a bookshelf, nestled between books to remind you of the joy of reading.
Summer Reading, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: nfs, playshop, reading, sold, tree, watercolor
Sherlock bookmark 2
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Sherlock Bookmark 2 by Amy Crook
I was experimenting with some new paper and salt, and after tearing down a 8″x8″ square for another piece I was left with this strip. I made my usual spirals, except this time I kept them all along the top edge rather than scattered over the whole page. They didn’t form proper salt pools, but I did like the will-o-the-wisp quality that was left, with just a few tiny salt crystals and the soft swirls of ink like a glowing light.
In a fit of 2am whimsy, I pencilled in a half-dozen little Sherlocks, first examining, then chasing, and finally catching his very own will-o-the-wisp.
Sherlock Bookmark 2, 8″x2.75″ mixed media on paper, nfs (sold).
You can see the salt crystals much better in this detail photo, and some of the teeny tiny detail in the little Sherlocks.
Sherlock Bookmark 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: bookmark, nfs, pen and ink, pencil, salt, sherlock, sketch, sold
Sherlock bookmark
Saturday, October 15th, 2011
Sherlock bookmark by Amy Crook
This little scrap of paper is nice thick Arches cover black, and should stand up to being used as a bookmark, though I suspect the soft edges will get a bit softer over time. Basically I was tearing some 5″x5″ squares and I had this little 1″ strip left so I decided to draw a contemplative Sherlock.
Sherlock bookmark, 1″x5″ white gel pen and pencil on paper, nfs, sold.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: bookmark, gel pen, holmes, nfs, pencil, sherlock, sold
Squamous Turtle
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Squamous Turtle by Amy Crook
I made this little guy in a very similar manner to the Opera Squid, except I mixed rich quinacridone gold with the grey-green zoisite genuine for his palette. He gets his name from one of Lovecraft’s favorite adjectives, which means scaly, and from the texture created when the granular zoisite settles out of the mix, leaving the quinacridone to stain the paper gold.
Squamous Turtle, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
Tags: nfs, sold, turtle, watercolor, zoisite
Opera Squid
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Opera Squid by Amy Crook
This little guy is made of another delightful real-mineral paint, zoisite, mixed with the eye-searingly vivid opera pink from the same company. The grains of the mineral paint separate from the finer, more staining pink in some places, which gives this cheery little squid a lovely duotone texture. The grey-green of the zoisite becomes a warm neutral when mixed with the pink, ranging from an almost violet grey to a brackish brown.
I had fun with this quick brush sketch, using the quality of the paints themselves to create texture, shape and value. Plus, you know how I do love to paint tentacles.
Opera Squid, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper.
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
Tags: nfs, sketch, sold, squid, tentacles, watercolor
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